SOLAR POWER STORAGE: USE SOLAR POWER FLEXIBLY
Photovoltaic systems can be mounted on every modern roof. Add a solar storage unit and you can realize the full potential of your solar modules.
What are solar power storage units?
Generally speaking, a solar power storage unit is a battery, an accumulator. All surplus solar electricity of your PV system will be stored in this battery. This electricity can be used when you need it instead of having to feed it into the public grid as before, and the annual amount of electricity you have to purchase will be lower. Thus, a solar power storage unit can provide substantial savings as the purchase of electricity is always more expensive than the feed-in tariff.
Meanwhile the capacity of these solar batteries allows a power storage that is sufficient to supply your house with electricity for several hours. And the efficiency of solar power storage units will continue to increase. Solar power storage units in residential buildings with decentralized power generation units will play a key role in the future energy system.
Benefits of solar power storage units
Independence is a significant benefit of installing a solar energy storage system. You will be independent from the weather and power suppliers. At a glance:
- Efficient use of solar energy
- Independence from traditional power suppliers
- A lower electricity bill by increased self-consumption
- Unaffected by future electricity price increases
- Supply of solar energy independent from the time of day and weather conditions
When to install a solar power storage unit?
Solar power storage systems are recommended if you want to purchase and install a photovoltaic system. A battery inverter converts the direct current into alternating current or stores it in the battery temporarily. The inverter also controls the charge and discharge of the battery storage unit and the household consumption. The surplus electricity is fed into the grid. A solar power storage system from RCT Power is a very efficient solution if you want to use solar energy for your own needs.
How to determine if a solar power storage unit is worthwhile?
With a solar power storage unit you can increase your self-consumption rate of the electricity generated by your PV system from 25 % to 75 %. At the same time, you save money as you have to buy less electricity from energy suppliers. A comparative calculation shows the payback period of your investment in the solar power storage unit based on the projected electricity cost savings.
- How high is the average energy use per year?
- How much do I pay for my annual electricity bill?
- How much do I expect to pay over the next 25 years?
- Are you planning to add large electricity consumers in the future?
Which battery technology is recommended?
Accumulator technology is constantly evolving. The era of solar energy storage units that where using lead-acid batteries is long gone and has been replace by lithium-based batteries. RCT Power solar power storage units use LiFePO4 batteries. LiFePO4 stands for lithium iron phosphate or LFP. The cell chemistry of this battery type belongs to the group of lithium-ion batteries, which have a lower energy density and are therefore slightly larger than other batteries. For a stationary storage the bigger size does not really matter. The lower energy density helps to avoid thermal runaway when cells suffer from mechanical damage that can result in internal short circuits. This makes LFP batteries much safer than other Li-based batteries.
Even more advantages are provided by the battery technology used by RCT Power and the dedicated battery management system developed together with the KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology). The finetuned combination of battery technology and battery management system results in high cycle stability, ensuring a very long service life, even under high load. Benefits at a glance:
- Very safe, no risk of fire
- Very high number of charging cycles, resulting in longer service life
- Depth of Discharge exceeding 90 % for maximum storage utilization
- High efficiency exceeding 90%.
- Warranty on the solar power storage unit: 10 years
Backup power for the security of supply
Solar power storage units are very safe. The RCT Power Switch provides more supply security to your PV system and increases your independence level from the power grid. In case of a power failure, important electrical appliances such as refrigerators or WLAN routers can still be feeded with electricity. As soon as the mains power fails, the RCT Power Switch automatically disconnects from the main supply, and the storage battery takes over to supply power in your house. Thus, backup power will always be available.
A solar power storage unit with a backup power functionality is a reasonable option for your system, especially considering the increased number of newly established ‘home offices’. Even in case of a power failure, there will be no unwelcome interruption of your work at home. The reaction time in the event of a power failure is only 5 to 10 seconds. To optimize the security of supply, the device ships with two outputs: one for power consumers that are absolutely dependent of backup power, and one for those devices that are not essential during an outage.
Benefits of solar power storage units with backup power:
- The functionality of the PV system is maintained
- Continued recharging of the storage battery by the PV system
- Ideal home office support – avoids WLAN router outages
- No cooling appliances outages
- No illumination outages
Solar power storage at a glance
Solar power storage units are getting increasingly more efficient. You either use them to retrofit your existing solar systems or make them part of your new PV system installation. LiFePO4 batteries are very safe and have a long service life and are therefore the recommended battery technology for solar power storage units. Additionally the RCT Power Switch is a useful supplement to enable a backup power supply. With an RCT Power storage unit you will always be on the bright side.
